Data reveals council has sold £28m of assets since 2020: ‘Selling the family sliver’

Buckinghamshire Council has sold over £28 million worth of assets since it was set up in 2020, new data has revealed.

This includes the sale of 30-34 Oxford Road, High Wycombe for £2 million for Buckinghamshire College Group’s new campus and a £2.1 million deal for the town’s former derelict and contaminated allotments at Bassetsbury Lane to turn it into a mobile homes site.

Not all disposals are sales however, with the council also making several ‘community asset transfers’ in Aylesbury since 2020, including Paradise Orchard, Turnfurlong Lane and ‘Phase Two’ of the Riverine Corridor.

And despite the council’s flurry of land and property disposals in recent years, the sales it has made are only a fraction of its net assets, which were worth over £2 billion as of April 2024 – although its accounts are still being audited, and this figure may change.

The council provided the data on asset sales to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) under freedom of information laws and explained most of its disposals were used for affordable housing or education initiatives.

The release of the figures comes just months after leader Martin Tett said his council was ‘running out of assets’, even though the authority is currently considering selling off even more land and property including some of its centres for disabled adults.

However, Bucks Council is ‘no different’ from other local authorities in making regular decisions on its assets, according to John Chilver, cabinet member for accessible housing and resources.

He told the LDRS: “A huge number of factors influence these decisions; financial and market conditions and importantly, the needs of our residents, our service users and how we can provide best value.

“What might have been the right thing to do ten, twenty years ago might not necessarily be the right thing in today’s world.”

The council’s asset disposals since 2020 also include part of land at Nightingale Way, Denham, which was sold in 2024 for £1.1 million and Collins House on, Desborough Avenue, Wycombe, which was sold for £2.6 million in 2022 for an affordable housing development.

Meanwhile, Crest Road, Cressex Island, Wycombe was sold in 2022 for £9.7 million, land at Winslow Station in 2024 for £1 and land at Horns Lane, Wycombe for £5.35 million in 2023 for the development of 50 low-cost homes.

Cllr Stuart Wilson, who leads the Independents at the council, said this week, after viewing the data, he welcomed the ‘opportunities to get affordable housing built’ such as the Horns Lane site.

The councillor said he and other members had encouraged the council to accelerate the disposal of unwanted assets to ‘improve capital receipts and reduce complexity in property’, including facilities ‘no longer required’ from the former district councils.

This includes assets like the council’s King George V House offices in Amersham, which it accepted an undisclosed sum for from an anonymous developer in September last year, and which does not feature in the data.

However, Cllr Wilson also told the LDRS: “My big issue is about selling the family silver and regretting it later.

“Each aspect needs careful consideration against future demands as well as current financial pressure to sell property.”

The Independent gave several examples such as the council houses transferred to housing associations in Bucks more than 10 years ago.

“Now we have a sclerotic build out rate of 500 affordable homes a year and a housing register of over 7,000,” he said.

Cllr Wilson also highlighted the historic closures of children’s homes in the county, while noting the council was now buying and converting homes to bring services ‘back in-house to save money’.

The Independent also pointed to the council’s current plans to sell or repurpose four of its seven adult day care and respite centres on the disputed basis they are underused and in poor condition.

Cllr Wilson said: “These will be massively regretted in years to come if they proceed. They will cost millions of pounds to build back when the external market becomes unaffordable.”

The families of the adults who use the centres have also warned of the ‘short-termism’ of selling off these capital resources, although the council has repeatedly insisted no final decision has been taken and has consulted ‘extensively’ with those affected and the public.

Cllr Chilver said the council was expanding inhouse provision for children in care with new children’s homes as provider costs and demand have ‘dramatically escalated in recent years’ across the country.

He said: “We ultimately make decisions based on the best outcomes for the children and we want to build provision within Buckinghamshire allowing more children in our care to stay locally.”

The cabinet member added that decisions about council assets were made on a ‘fully informed and case-by case basis’ after consulting with staff and residents if necessary and were ‘always guided on what provides best value and outcomes for the people of Buckinghamshire’.